Complete Croatia

Better sailing than Turkey, islands to rival those of Greece, and a cuisine to match Italys: its the hot spot that came in from the cold, says David Wickers

Ask anyone: Croatia is the hottest destination in the Med this summer. The Dalmatian coast, they will tell you, with its close-hauled constellation of 1,000 islands, is the “new Riviera”; while the Istrian peninsula, with its Italian looks and flavours, is “the new Tuscany”. But these slick phrases miss the point. Croatia isn’t really a “new” anything: it is still very much its old self.

In the late 1980s, half a million of us came to play here and almost universally loved it, but during the civil war, we shifted our allegiance to Spain, Greece and Turkey — even though most of Croatia was never touched by the conflict. Well, we’re finally back. About 170,000 British visitors are expected in 2004, and 24 holiday companies are featuring the country for the first time.

The smart set are already there in force. Steven Spielberg, Pierce Brosnan, Andre Agassi, Gywneth Paltrow and Sean